December 26, 2019 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 26.12.2019, 19:00

CHRISTMAS – Orthodox Christians on Thursday, on the
second day of Christmas, celebrated the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. This
old and important feast day is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, who brought Jesus
Christ into the world, and was first celebrated 1,500 years ago. Christians in
Romania have celebrated the Nativity of Jesus Christ this week.

STATISTICS – Over 2 million foreigners visited
Romania in the first 9 months of the year, spending some 1.15 billion euros,
according to the National Statistics Institute. Half of them traveled for
business, taking part in conferences, congresses, classes, trade fairs and
exhibitions. Foreign tourists spend 50% of their money on accommodation,
preferring units that offered included breakfast. Some 18% of the money was
spent in restaurants and bars, while a little over 30% represented gifts and
souvenirs. 80% of foreign tourists came to Romania by plane, 11% using their personal
cars and 7% by bus and coach.

MIGRANTS – The number of migrants who reached Italy in 2019 was
half compared to 2018, the Italian Interior Ministry reports. Compared to 2017,
the number of immigrants dropped by some 90%. Since the start of 2019, some
11,500 immigrants reached Italy, mostly from Tunisia, Pakistan and the Ivory
Coast. Italy is offering money and equipment to restore the effectiveness of
the Libyan Coast Guard, in order to be able to intercept migrants trying to
reach European shores. The number of arrivals in Italy is going down, yet
critics argue this was made possible by violating human rights, considering
immigrants locked in Libyan camps were exposed to severe abuses and torture.
After the change of Government in Italy in 2018, the then Interior Minister and
leader of the Lega Nord far-right Party, Matteo Salvini, introduced harsh
anti-immigration policies. The new center-left Government that took office in
September, has switched to a milder attitude towards rescue organizations,
allowing ships saving migrants to dock.

ACCIDENTS – A total of 44 road traffic accidents
have occurred in the last couple of days in Romania, killing 19 people and
gravely wounding another 33 people, the Romanian Police General Inspectorate
reports. Traffic agents have seized 500 drivers’ licenses and approximately 90
registration certificates. Although the number of people killed in traffic
accidents has been on the wane in the last three years, Romania continues to
rank 1st at EU level with the highest number of road traffic
victims.

FLU -The number of people who have the flu is low at present, with only
isolated cases having been reported, the National Center for the Surveillance
and Control of Communicable Diseases reports. Physicians warn vaccination
remains the only effective weapon against the flu virus. The number of Romanians
who have taken the flu vaccine this year is slightly higher than in 2018, when
around 150 people died due to complications caused by the flu. A total of 33
cases of flu virus infections were reported this winter season, with 1 person
dying to the virus.

COMMEMORATION – Entire communities in Asia on Thursday
commemorated the 230,000 victims of the 2004 earthquake and ensuing tsunami in
the Indian Ocean, marking 15 years since one of the biggest natural disasters,
Reuters reports. On Christmas morning in 2004, a 9.1 Richter-scale earthquake
occurred off the coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province, triggering a wave as high
as 17.4 meters that swept coastal areas in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India,
Thailand and another nine countries in the region. In the Aceh Indonesian
province alone entire villages were wiped off the map, killing some 125,000
people. More than 25,600 residential, commercial, government and school
buildings now stand inside the high-risk area, which was almost completely
wiped out in 2004.

STRIKE IN PARIS – The strike against the reform of the
pension system in France continued for the fourth consecutive week in Paris. On
Christmas Day, surface and underground trains in Paris were canceled or
delayed. On the second day of Christmas, on Thursday, traffic was disrupted,
with one in two high-speed trains being cancelled and five subway lines being
shut down. The Government in Paris, backed by the European Commission, says the
reform of the pension system is necessary, trying to merge the country’s 42
pension schemes into one, thus eliminating the regime of special pensions,
especially those for public transport workers who can enjoy early retirement.
Unions will stage wide-ranging protest actions on Saturday. Union
representatives will meet with Government officials on January 7 for the first
in a series of meetings that will take place before the bill is presented to
the Council of Ministers on January 22.

(Translated
by V. Palcu)